Staff members studied the corridor for more than a year and gathered opinions from 550 customers and merchants who completed a survey on the area. Improvements will be implemented over a 20-year period.

Greg Canfield

Elburn

Trustees to vote soon on going-green effort

Local governments throughout the Chicago area are pledging to make their communities more environmentally aware, and Elburn's Village Board could soon join them.

Trustees this week discussed signing the Greenest Region Compact, a project sponsored by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. Twenty-five of the caucus' 271 member communities have joined the compact, said Kate Agasie, the Mayors Caucus' environmental initiatives director.

More towns are scheduled to vote on it in the next few months. West suburban towns that have joined include Geneva, Elgin, Gilberts, Montgomery and Yorkville, she said.

Compact members commit to implementing three "priority" strategies to reduce their ecological footprints and at least four of 10 additional strategies.

Priority strategies are to reduce residents' water use by 15 percent; start recycling programs for computers, cell phones and other discarded electronics; and encourage residents to use compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Towns that join the compact by Feb. 15 will get a share of 500,000 CFL bulbs donated to the caucus by the Northern Illinois Energy Project, Agasie said.

"This isn't bad. It's a lot simpler than some of the other 'green' compacts I've seen," said Village President James Willey.

Elburn already fulfills many of the compact's requirements, such as conserving water, running a recycling program and making the village pedestrian-friendly, said Village Manager David Morrison.

"A lot of this is simply common sense," he said. "When people are looking for ways to be more environmentally responsible, there's a lot of information out there about things they can do that don't cost much. That's what this seems to be about."

The Village Board plans to vote on the issue Tuesday, and Willey said trustees are likely to approve it.